Then add the beautifully painted canvas: a white palace on the Canal Grande, with its prefect geometry outlined on the water.

Palazzo Grassi, throbbing heart of the Pinault Foundation, an immacolate venue that opens its doors for the most sophisticated wedding reception.

Here art, culture and refined taste for the elegance find their space of co-existence.

Pastel tones with a predominance of white, pale pink and green marbles can be turned into a contemporary but distinguished set-up that seeks inspirations in the Venetian traditions.

Customized tablecloths with precious Fortuny fabrics embellished with light organic floral decorations and a classy mise en place embodying the sinuous Fortuny patterns.

When the guests arrive from the water entrance, disembarking from the water taxis, the impact is astonishing: the main entrance hall with its longilineal perspective, the two loggie running around its perimeter, the slender columns and the imposing staircase connecting to the upper floors.

The clean architecture of this space inspires beautiful settings and guarantee shameless events.

While sipping a fresh cocktail the guests can enjoy a visit of the temporary exhibitions on the first and second floor before taking their seat for dinner.

Light up the atmosphere and turn the beats on for the after dinner then!

One step away from Palazzo Grassi is the Teatrino, a reversible location that with its symmetry can be set up with bars, lounge areas and a dance floor to party until late.

If you are thinking of an exclusive wedding with a unique celebration and you are looking for the “Wow” effect, Palazzo Grassi is the answer for everything.

The post Choosing a Museum for your Wedding Reception appeared first on Venice First.

Let’s go back to the 29 March 1516, when the Venetian Republic created the first ghetto on a small island in the north-western sestiere of Cannaregio. The residents were removed and replaced within a week by Jews already present in Venice. The meaning of the word Ghetto is still nowadays not clear, but its roots can be identified in the Venetian word gheto, name used to call the metal foundry in the parish.

Jews within Venice therefore found a secure place to live despite the restrictions imposed on them, and were soon joined by others fleeing persecution in central Europe. They built two synagogues in the ghetto: the Schola Grande Tedesca and the Schola Canton. The pragmatic Venetian Republic later exploited the economic advantages of allowing Levantine Jews to settle there – charging the residents for rent, water, the cost of the compulsory night-watchman and all services.

As the reputation of the ghetto spread, the population (about 700 in 1516) grew, and when the English traveler Thomas Coryat visited in 1608, he recorded as many as 6,000 inhabitants. The adjacent areas of the Ghetto Vecchio (old ghetto, though it was newer than the original) and later the Ghetto Novissimo were added to accommodate the growing population.

Living conditions were cramped and insanitary. The gates were unlocked at dawn and locked by sunset and all residents were required to wear yellow headgear or a badge. In what was, for a time, a tolerant Venice, Jews were not forced to convert and the ghetto became a place of study and scholarship; money-lending and the sale of some goods, such as jewelry and fur, was allowed. Christians attended concerts in the ghetto, and Christian architects and builders created synagogues. This Jewish melting pot had a lasting cultural impact on Venetian language, cuisine, music and dance.

By 1797 disease, war and politics had deeply shrunk the population of the ghetto to 3,000. Napoleon’s troops brought an end to the Republic of Venice and to the ghetto; they burned down the gates, and French principles of liberty, equality and fraternity allowed the ghetto’s inhabitants at last to be free and equal. The poorest Jewish remained in the ghetto, but many others left for other parts of the city, where they integrated, buying palaces on the Grand Canal and taking part in political life. Some contributed actively to the fight against Austrian occupation.

Today the ghetto is a magical place where you can still breath the lively Jewish soul and learn about its culture in a Venice open to embrace all the religions.

The post The history of the Venetian Jewish ghetto appeared first on Venice First.

But what are its origins, its roots and when its history begun?

The name Gondola – The etymology of the name is quite uncertain, it maybe comes from an intersection of the verb dondolare (to swing) and the greek verb kondura, indicating a boat with a short tail.

The construction of the Gondola – The gondola is made with 280 different places of wood and its effective construction lasts more than one year. The Gondola has a length of 11 meters and with its asymmetrical shape (the left side is usually wider than the right side) is directed by a long paddle. This paddle is then supported on a specific wooden structure called forcola. Despite its quite impressive length, the gondola is extremely easy to be conducted thanks to its flat bottom..this is a Venetian tip, to avoid any crash between gondoliers you can easily hear the typical  “Ohe” informing of the imminent turn into a narrow canal!

The Fero de prova – The typical ironed “comb” that characterises the prow of the gondola has a beautiful meaning every Venetian know by heart. Its shape represents the most important parts of the city: the six “teeth of the comb” are the six sestrieri (districts) of Venice (San Marco, San Polo, Santa Croce, Castello, Cannaregio and Dorsoduro), the “internal teeth” is the island of Giudecca, the round shaped sum is the famous Doge’s Hat, the little arch on top of the highest “teeth” is the Ponte di Rialto (Rialto bridge) and the three thinner decorations among the “teeth” are the three islands of Murano, Burano and Torcello.

Some curiosities – In the past the gondole were covered with a removable black top and they were at exclusive use of the transportation of the noble families; each family had its private gondolier always at disposal for its transfers. The famous freschi were chances for meetings and worldliness, literally promenades on the waters, cuddled by the sweet role of the gondola.This habit gave origin to a specific type of music, the so called canzone da batelo (song for the boat), facing its apogee in the XVII century but still in vogue today among the tourists.

Created as a practical form of transport, they transformed over time into objects of sleek beauty!

The post Are you sure you know everything about the Gondola? appeared first on Venice First.

Its origins date back to the 1631, remembering the end of the terrible pestilence that in only two years caused more than 47thousands of victims.

The Doge and the Patriarch reunited all the citizens for three days and three nights to pray the Virgin Mary (Madonna) to redeem the city from the plague.

They made a vow to built a holy temple in her honor if the city would have defeated the epidemic.

And miraculously, the following weeks recorded a decreasing contamination and therefore in the 1631 the construction of this stunning church has been entrusted to the young architect Baldassare Longhena, who donated to Venice one of his greatest masterpieces.

Next to Punta della Dogana, raise the stunning beauty of the church of Madonna della Salute, protecting the city since centuries.

The Venetian have a great feeling for this celebration, one of the most evocative events strongly connected with the traditions of the city, that still nowadays links the past and the present of Venice.

In order to allow thousands of Venetian to pray for the Holy Virgin, we build a temporary bridge to connect the church with San Marco, the famous “Ponte Votivo”; troops of local people make this pilgrimage and light a candle as a homage to the Holy Virgin to keep them in good health.

The atmosphere inside the church is really magical and touching.

All around you can find stands selling local products, sweets, and the famous traditional dish for the occasion: the castradina, mutton meat cooked with onions, wine, and cabbage.

Buona Festa della Salute a tutti!

The post BUONA FESTA DELLA SALUTE! appeared first on Venice First.

The city’s heritage, secular craftmanship and avant garde spirit as well as its innate sense of glamour and sophisticated lifestyle have inspired the creation of signature leather goods, jewelry and perfumes. DELLALUNA pieces are designed and hand crafted in its ateliers and presented at the Maison located in the heart of Venice at San Marco 1312 on Calle Vallaresso.

Palazzo Dellaluna sits between the Canal Della Luna and Piazza San Marco. The Leoni symbol has been the house crest since the twelfth century when the Palazzo was owned by the church and home to the Templar Knights on their way to the promise land. The Maison has lived many artistic and historical events – it is the first soil where the Italian Iron crown “Corona Ferrea” was given back to Italy.

If Dellaluna starts in Venice it’s iconic pieces can already be seen walking the streets of Paris, Tokyo, New York or Dubai as the Maison  reaches an international audience of aficionados who look for the exceptional in every detail.

I would say if you are looking for a great piece to bring home, a stop at DELLALUNA is compulsory!

The post My new favorite brand is DellaLuna! appeared first on Venice First.

Instead, we have proposed the same setting to one of our lovely couple this year, Giada & Alberto. They had only one and specific request: “a breathtaking place, an elegant location on the beach where we dream of walking barefoot on the sand while we pronounce “Yes I do” surrounded by the sound of the sea”.

Said and done…the Hotel Excelsior was the perfect backdrop ever! Since the first site inspection it’s been love at first sight and immediately we started imaging the ceremony by the beach with the sea view, salty perfume, sand under the feet, delicate and pastel colors and soft fabrics; then a sparkling and bumpy cocktail on the Sea Terrace, as they are, two souls that love their freedom and craziness.

To crown it all, a sophisticated dinner at the Sala degli Stucchi, completely covered by its own white stucchi and mirrors to reflect the natural shades of the room and the flowers.

A vibrant touch to the whole design has been taken by the tropical flower arrangements, which played a leading role in all the locations: buttercups, little daisies, dandelions and little prince proteas with their lively colors donated a modern touch to an ancient and glorious ballroom of the 1914.

And so it’s been…crowned by a shining and sunny day which amplified the beauty of the colors and went the extra mile to a fairytale and flawless wedding on the beach!

Click here to see the entire gallery of this wedding on the beach!

The post Once upon a time… A wedding by the beach in Venice appeared first on Venice First.

And what if the luxurious nights of the famous tale of Scott Fitzgerald would take place in one of the most elegant destination in the world?

The ancient Granaries of the Belmond Hotel Cipriani were the perfect setting for an exclusive 50° birthday party in Venice.

The old allure of the great Gatsby has been brought back to its splendour for a group of friends from Switzerland reunited for a week end of celebrations, where the fantasy flooded away.

The dress code was impeccable: tuxedos with pastels stripes, sparkly ties, vintage hats, and gold walking sticks for the gentlemen and sleeveless gowns accented with sequins, fringes and long pearl necklaces for the ladies.

At a first glance, the atmosphere was a true throwback to the past glories of that decade.

The accurate attention to the details played an important role, from the idealisation of the theme to its effective realisation.

A set-up to fall in love with: white carpet, black feathers, a forest of candles and lavish accessorises like diamonds and pearls, idealized by the most quoted designer of the moment, Vincenzo Dascanio.

Extraordinary entertainment to light up the mood of the night, with music played from old gramophones and dancers performing the most acrobatic swing.

The result was for sure an event to equal worth with the private, overindulged parties Mr. Jay Gatsby used to hold in his property, but this time with an amazing scenario, Venice and its beauty.

Click here to see the full gallery!

The post Guest of honor: the GREAT GATSBY… a flawless party in Venice. appeared first on Venice First.

1) What is your rate for the planning of a wedding?

1. For wedding budgets under € 100.000,00 there is a flat fee of € 10.000
2. For wedding budgets over € 100.000,00 we are going to prepare a tailor-made fee proposal.

3. 2) Will there be somebody of your office to coordinate the wedding? 

4. The day of the wedding there is the planner + 1 or 2 assistants according to the number of locations involved and number of guests.
5. A certain number of hostesses will be necessary in order to assist the guests for the logistic and this part will be charged separately.

6. 3) Can you coordinate only part of the wedding? 

7. This is a service we don’t do anymore. We like to be involved in all the planning of the wedding in order to make sure the result is up to the our standards.
8. If there are some suppliers you would like to involve, we can definitely bring them aboard if we are sure they will deliver a good service.

• 4) Are you making the design of the wedding? 

• What I like to say is that “we are planners and not designers”; during the years it happened to design some events but it’s not our main business.
• We can definitely help you putting together a nice mood-board and color palette and involve the suppliers in develop the style you chose.
• Anyway we like to have professional designers. This way you can have a bigger variety of designs and a rendering of the events if necessary.

VENUES 

• 5) Are there any locations where we can party until late? 

• In most of the locations you can party until 2/3AM which is normally a good time to end a party.
• If you are looking into very late options, we have a selection of locations where is possible to see the sun coming up!

• 6) Do the venues provide all the services? Like sound system and forniture?  

• Most of the venues have basic or limited material for events. For each location you chose, we will explain exactly what can be included and what we need to rent.

WEDDING CAKE

• 7) Do you have a good cake designer in Venice? Can we have a monumental cake in Venice?

• In Venice we have some exquisite pastry shops, we collaborate with them if you are looking for a classic Italian style cake.
• If you would like to have a monumental cake, we collaborate with pastry shops located in the mainland, for example in Padua; we are going to take care of the transportation to the venue as well.

CATERING

• 8) Shall we provide drinks before / after the ceremony? 

• Before the ceremony, specially in the hot months, we suggest to serve some mineral water. Immediately after the ceremony, is a nice gesture to have some soft drinks and a glass of sparkling wine.

• 9) There is any Kosher catering in Venice? 

• Yes, in Venice there are two Kosher catering. We also offer some international options in order to give you a wider selection.

• 10) We have our favorite catering from abroad, can you assist them? 

• We give full support to your catering, from the rental of kitchen equipments to the hiring of kitchen helpers and waiters.

ACCOMMODATION 

• 11) Shall I pay for the accommodation of my guests?

• This is a fantastic gesture but not compulsory.
• During the years we had some couples that decided to take care of every expense of their guests and other who decided to cover only part of the costs, for example the transportation to the venues. So feel free to follow your budget!

• 12) Do I need to have all the guests at the same hotel? 

• This depends on the number of guests, and the locations involved.
• We can assist you in finding the perfect solutions for you and your guests. If guests are not staying in the same hotel we will organize their transfers to the parties.

TRANSPORTATION 

• 13) How many persons can we have on each water taxi? 

• We suggest to have a maximum 10 persons per water taxi.
• If you are traveling with luggage we suggest a maximum of 6 persons and 6 bags per boat.

• 14) Is the transportation very expensive in Venice? 

• First of all the transportation by water taxi shall be considered as a beautiful part of the Venetian experience.
• You can choose between normal water taxies or the wooden water limousines. They have different costs of course and we will be happy to give you the two options.
• Another difference in price is according to the number of guests, there is an extra fee after 6 persons on board.
• What I can promise is that we will optimize the use of the boats according to the program so you can save as much as possible.

• 15) Can we have the guests traveling by gondola to the parties / ceremony? 

• The transportation by gondola is definitely a very fascinating option.
• I suggest this if the distance to navigate is not too big, we are in the warm season and we are not in a tight schedule : ).

• INVITATIONS AND INFORMATION TO THE GUESTS

• 16) When shall we send the Save the date?

• This answer depends on how busy your guests are.
• Usually we suggest to send a save the date 8 to 12 months in advance.

• 17) When shall we send the invitations? 

• We suggest doing this 6 to 8 weeks before the wedding day. We can create a nice design for you with our printing company so you can drop them easily via email.

• 18) Can you take care of the invitations? 

• Yes of course! We can produce the invitations and ship them from our office to all over the word

• 19) Shall we make a website for our guests? 

• It’s a great way to save your time and the time of your guests. There are several programs available to create one. We can guide you through the different possibilities.

CEREMONY

• 20) Can we get married in a Sinagogue in Venice? 

• The Jewish weddings can be celebrated in the Spanish Synagogue, in the Jewish Ghetto of Venice. It’s a beautiful ancient synagogue.
• If you would like to get married in a Synagogue here in Venice, remember a Kosher meal shall be considered for the reception.

• 21) Can we get a civil wedding in different locations from the Town-Hall? 

• Civil weddings can be celebrated at Palazzo Cavalli (the town-hall) and at Palazzo Ca’ Vendramin Calergi, the actual seat of the Casino of Venice.
• Unfortunately it’s not possible to celebrate civilly outside of these buildings.
• An alternative can be organising a symbolic wedding and organising your civil one in your country.

• 22) Do you produce symbolic weddings? 

• Touch-full, personalised beautiful symbolic weddings.. yes we love doing them!

• 23) Can I get married in a catholic church? 

• Yes, there are some beautiful churches where non-residents can get married.

• 24) Can we have music in the church? 

• Yes, we usually arrange a string quartet + 1 organist & a soprano.

PAYMENTS 

• 25) Do you accept credit card payments? 

• Yes, we accept payments by credit card with a 3% surcharge on the transaction to cover the bank costs.

• 26) How do we pay the suppliers? What are the deadlines for the payment? 

• For your convenience we suggest we take care of all the payments with the suppliers.
• We are going to include all the costs in our detailed master bill and inform you about the payments deadlines. This will save a lot of your time and help you taking out any stress on you.

WEATHER 

• 27) What’s the best time of the year to get married? 

• Weather is always unpredictable nowadays all over the world.
• Venice is very fascinating during all the seasons but if you want to have mild weather the best months usually are: May, June, end of August, September, beginning of October.

•  28) Is there the risk to have high water in Venice? 

• Exceptional high tides are not a common phenomenon.
• “Normal” high tides mostly happen in fall and winter. This means you need to wear rubber boots to walk in some low areas of the city.

MUSIC 

• 29) Do you have local bands? 

• We do have a wide selection of bands from local to international ones. When we understand the mood we want to give to the different events we will suggest the performers accordingly.

PHOTOGRAPHY & VIDEOGRAPHY

• 30) Do you have some local photographers and videographers you like? 
• There are some amazing local photographers and videographer we can suggest you.

• 31) I would like to take my videographers / photographers from abroad, can you assist them with the logistic?

• Yes, we will give them full support to work here. In the past we have worked from photographers from different countries, from Australia to USA, to Singapore and more.. we are here to help you!

CHILDREN AT WEDDINGS 

• 32) Shall we allow taking the children to the wedding?  

• This is a very personal decision… we love to involve them especially in the ceremony.

• 33) Do you have baby sitting service? 

• We have professional multilingual baby sitters that will entertain children of all ages.

OTHER

• 34) Are we obliged to make more than one event? 

• With destination weddings we suggest to have at least two main events inclusive of the wedding reception.
• Since your guests are traveling from other countries having  a welcome night the day before the ceremony it’s something they will appreciate.

• 35) Can I have a big wedding in Venice with many guests? 

• Venice has a very big selection of venues, from private palaces facing the Grand Canal, merchant warehouses, ancient shipyards, private islands and more!

• 36) Shall we leave tips to the suppliers? 

• Tipping in Italy is not compulsory. Anyway it is a very much appreciated gesture.
• If necessary we can help you defining the right gratuity for the different suppliers.

We didn’t reply to all your questions?

Leave your comments here!

The post FAQ – What Brides want to know when planning a wedding in Venice appeared first on Venice First.

I hope you will love it and share it!!!

• Thanks to all the fantastic persons that happily embraced my project:
• – Luca Ballarin, Rowing Champion
• – Roberto Tramontin, Gondola Maker
• – Arrigo Cipriani, Owner Harry’s Bar
• – Bonifacio Brass, Owner Locanda Cipriani
• – Sandrina Rubelli, Interior Designer
• – Riccardo Bisazza, President Orsoni Mosaici
• – Eleonora Menegazzo, Gold Leaf Artisan Battiloro
• – Giampaolo Ottazzi, GM Belmond Hotel Cipriani
• A very special thank to Claudio Sichel for the direction of the movie and for being a real artist. www.whitesfilm.com
• Cover picture by: http://erickelley.com

Related Tag: Destination Wedding Planner Italy

The post Welcome to my Home appeared first on Venice First.

We’re so excited to announce and share with you our updated look! As we grow as a company we knew that we wanted to create a brand that reflects our business and our clients. Venice First is a luxury travel based Wedding and Events Planning Company that focuses on creating upscale parties and travel itineraries for people near and far. It was our goal to create a sophisticated and elevated brand experience, something that demonstrates what type of events Venice First can really put together for you.

When you first land on our website we want you to feel like you’re a part of an exclusive and elegant community because when choosing us as your event planner, we’ll ensure you feel nothing but connected to the city of Venice. Our colour palette of soft neutrals, blacks, and accents of gold reflect our upscale parties and inspire your perfect event. 

Another feature we’re excited to share with you is our How It Works page. Here we outline what it’s like to work with us and how our process works here at Venice First.

Our new updated look designed by Ashley & Malone represents us perfectly and we can’t wait to hear your thoughts!

Let us know in the comment section below.

Related Tag: Wedding Planner Venice

The post Welcome To The New Venice First! appeared first on Venice First.